Jessica Ayala

English 1010
Allison Fernley
Annotated Bibliography
I will be writing my paper on the issue of assisted suicide, also referred to as expanding the
right to die. I will be focusing my research on whether or not physician assisted suicide should be
legal or not. In 2011 my cousin was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. He spent the next
year of his life in and out of the hospital and his parents desperately tried to save his life. He got to the
point he asked his parents to stop taking him to chemo and to stop looking for new surgerys because
he didn't want to live in his pain anymore. He wanted the cancer to finish so he could die. Assisted
suicide was not an option for him as it is not legal in the state of Utah. His cancer had progressed to a
state that treatments would only prolong it but not cure it. He died a very painful death. Had assisted
suicide been an option for him he could have had the option to go more peacefully when death was
inevitable.

Ira Byock- Doctor-assisted suicide is Unethical and Dangerous

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/10/06/expanding-the-right-to-die/doctor-assisted-suicideis-unethical-and-dangerous The New York Times, New York Times Company. 6 October 2014.
Ira Byock's article starts out with him telling readers that the health system in America is
enduring tremendous amounts of strain. He states The age-old dictum that doctors must not kill
patients can appear antiquated, out of touch with hard realities, and even heartless. On the contrary, this
is when such principles are most important. Prohibitions on medical practice protect vulnerable patients
and the public from the power that doctors wield due to their specialized knowledge and skills.
(Byock). The reader can understand that Byocks view is that assisted suicide is wrong. Byock explains
his reasonings for feeling this way by explaining that people who are resorting to assisted suicide are

doing it for the wrong reasons. Byock uses pathos throughout his article putting in a lot of emotion and
passion into why he feels assisted suicide is wrong.
Ira Byock is a credible source because he has a doctorate degree as well as he is a professor at
Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine. He is also the chief medical officer of the Institue for Human
Caring of Providence Health and Services. He has included in his article research to back up his claims.
His experience and research both combined make him a credible source.
Ira Byock maintains his reasonings throughout his article of why his is opposed to assisted
suicide with the use of emotion and pathos. I do not feel like Byock informed me about physician
assisted suicide as much as he relied on emotion as an appeal to grab the readers attention.

Miranda Barbuzzi
http://www.academia.edu/9174629/Who_Owns_the_Right_to_Die_An_Argument_About_the_Legal_S
tatus_of_Euthanasia_and_Assisted_Suicide_in_Canada. Penn Bioethcis Journal. Vol X, Issue 1 16-20
Miranda Barbuzzi informs the readers about what is happening with assisted suicide in Canada.
She informs the readers that no where in Canada is assisted suicide legal. Barbuzzi talks about what it
means to be an active and passive euthanasia. Active is when there is an act done to end someone's life
and the passive part of her description is the absence of an act needing to be done to the patient.
Barbuzzi shares some different opinions both for and against assisted suicide. She also talks about the
different reasons for assisted suicide. One reason she mentions is that some people want their
terminally ill relative or partner to accept physician assisted suicide so they can inherit their money.
She also mentions that the Main ethical support of passive euthanasia is autonomy, which dictates that
individuals have the right to make their own choices and to have those decisions respected.
(Barbuzzi). What she is saying here is that if people are to the point that they want to die than their
decision should be respected. Barbuzzi talks about the other side of assisted suicide, those against it are
on a path of the slipper slope when siding with the fallacy if society legally accepts actively killing for

terminally ill patients who request it due to severe pain or disability, less serious cases will eventually
be accepted. Legalizing active suicide will inevitably lead to the killing of those who simply request it
without facing imminent death. (Barbuzzi). In other words, those siding with this viewpoint are falling
into a slippery slope. Barbuzzi claims that killing of those who simply just want it can be avoided and
ruled out by using a psychological examination process as well as medical process when determining
who can be a candidate for physician assisted suicide.
Barbuzzi uses more of logos to appeal to readers. She provides the reader with facts about the
two different kinds of euthanasia's and helps the reader come to an understanding that physician
assisted suicide falls under the active euthanasia category.
Brittany Maynard
http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/07/opinion/maynard-assisted-suicide-cancer-dignity/
Brittany Maynard writers her article from a personal perspective. She wrote her article when
battling with an aggressive and violent form of brain cancer. She shares with the readers about when
her doctors gave her six months to live. After learning about treatment options that would not cure her
condition but prolong it she became hesitant on if she wanted to go through that amount of pain for the
inevitable result she would face of death. She researched assisted suicide and realized she would rather
die with dignity than die in the vast amount of pain she would endure if she would chose to prolong her
death for the six months she was given. She talks about her move to Oregon where physician assisted
suicide is legal. Maynard uses pathos to grab the readers attention by appealing to their emotions as she
talks about the pain she was going through and how she wanted to prevent her new husband from
watching her go through more than she had to. She ends her article advocating for the right to die as
saying When my suffering becomes too great, I can say to all those I love, I love you; come be by my
side, and come say goodbye as I pass into whatever's next. I will die upstairs in my bedroom with my
husband, mother, stepfather, and best friend by my side and pass peacefully.

I cant imagine trying to rob anyone else of that choice. Maynard uses pathos in her article as she
establishes credibility to her readers because she has personal insight on the struggle a terminally ill
patient faces, and how many would rather die with dignity than die in tremendous amounts of pain.

I found Maynard's article to be convincing, she gives the reader emotional insight into what it is
like to go through the decision of choosing to end your life with dignity.
Thaddeuas Mason Pope
Pope, Thaddeus. "Oregon Shows That Assisted Suicide Can Work Sensibly and Fairly." The New York
Times. The New York Times, 7 Oct. 2014. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/10/06/expanding-the-right-to-die/oregon-shows-thatassisted-suicide-can-work-sensibly-and-fairly>.
This article was posted in The New York Times debate room under the topic of Expanding-theright-to-die. Thaddeus Mason Pope's article was interesting to me. Pope believes that assisted suicide
can be logical as well as right. Pope provides facts that supports this claim and that death with dignity
is working in Oregon when he says Since the Oregon Death with Dignity Act was enacted in 1997,
more than 1,100 people have obtained life-ending prescriptions , and about 750 used them. Most were
dying of cancer. And feared a loss of autonomy, dignity and decreasing ability to participate in
activities that made life enjoyable. He is saying this to support that fact that though 1,100 people in
Oregon obtained this lethal drug not everyone opted to use it, however they had them at their disposal
if they deemed necessary. Pope supports Oregon administrating lethal drugs and the law in Oregon that
allows them to do so the Oregon Death with Dignity Act by defending the fact that qualifiers for this
lethal drug must be mentally healthy 18 or older adults, they must have had two physicians state that
they have no more than six months to live. To provide this they need two oral and one written consent
statement that they want their life to end. The two oral proclamations need to be 15 days apart from
each other and the written one needs to be witnessed by two different people on two separate occasions.

Pope is a credible source because he was the director of the Health Law institute at Hamoline
University. He supported his views throughout his article by providing a substantial amount of facts to
inform the reader about information and facts about those who are terminally ill that have chosen to use
assisted suicide. I found Pope's article interesting, he informed the reader about facts surrounding
assisted suicide such as what we talked about earlier, when qualifying the patient needs to have two
doctors verify they are terminally ill and mentally competent to make the decision of assisted suicide.

Kathryn Tucker
Tucker, Kathryn. "Give Me Liberty at My Death: Expanding End-of-Life Choice in Massachusetts." 1
Jan. 2014. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.nylslawreview.com/wpcontent/uploads/sites/16/2014/02/NYLS-Law-Review.Tuckerarticle.pdf>.
In Kathryn Tucker's article she defends the right to die act that is active in three states; Oregon,
Washington, and Vermont. Tucker believes that the Right to Die Act would be beneficial if active in
Massachusetts. She begins her article by stating that those who chose assisted suicide are not doing so
to hurt themselves but rather to give themselves self-control. Patients of assisted suicide do not chose
so to self-destruct but instead to seek comfort by both empowering themselves with control over time
and manner of their inevitable impending death and shaping their death in a manner they consider
coherent with their life.
Tucker provides the reader with facts about the three states who have legalized physician
assisted suicide and how it has impacted them. Washington, Oregon, and Vermont. Tucker aknowledges
that in Oregon many qualifying patients who have obtained the lethal drug of assisted suicide have
chosen not to taken it however them just having the drug has given them comfort. Tucker insists that
providing physician suicide aid in Massachusetts can be a positive end of life option. And defends the
right for Massachusetts to allow this by providing supporting data that no laws in Massachusetts would

conflict with allow this assisted suicide option to exist. No Massachusetts law prohibits the practice
with sufficient specificity accordingly and in dying cane emerge within end-of-life medical practices
governed by best practices. This would extend an important additional chance to mentally competent
terminally ill Massachusetts residents who confront a dying process they may find unbearable. Tucker
believes that allowing assisted suicide in Massachusetts sets to be beneficial giving those patients
power over the quality of life they have left.
Tucker's article was informative and she used facts and research to add credibility to her article.
She provided the reader with information on the states that do legalize physician assisted suicide and
the affect that it has had on these states. Her article was convincing as it was wrote in an effort to allow
and legalize physician assisted suicide in Massachusetts.

Wesley Smith
Smith, Wesley. "'Right to Die' Can Become a 'duty to Die'" The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 1
Jan. 2009. Web. 24 Mar. 2015. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/4736927/Rightto-die-can-become-a-duty-to-die.html>.
Wesley Smith begins his article discussing the cost of assisted suicide over the cost of treatment
plans such as chemotherapy are substantially cheaper. And in some cases the government even will
help with the payment of assisted suicide but not with chemotherapy. Wesley than brings the reader to
two cases in Oregon who were on medicaid, the state denied assistance for their treatment option
payments but sent them a letter offering to pay for assisted suicide. Smith than insists that the
legalization of assisted suicide would be dangerous.
According to an Oregon experiment when analyzing patients who obtained the assisted suicide
medication. They became felt they had to take it to not burden their relatives. According to Smith the
right to die became the duty to die. Smith suggests that a physician agreeing to provide assisted suicide
as an option only confirms a patients fear that they are a burden and that is the solution. Smith feels that
depressed people who are not in the right state of mind to make the decision to resort to assisted suicide

will be given it as an option. He that this option disregards patients life and legalizing it would not be in
the best interest of the terminally ill.
Smith uses both ethos and pathos to appeal to the reader and add credibility to his article. He
talks from an emotional view and provides the reader with facts about the expense that assisted suicide
can place on the government and why legalizing physician assisted suicide would create problems as he
feels that it would violate the rights and the best interest of the terminally ill.